The Year of the Wolf
by smartpenguin78
Summary: After the end of the the first war, with his life shattered beyond recognition, Remus Lupin decides to track down Fenrir Greyback. This story follows the repercussions of that decision over the following year, from both Remus and Fenrir's perspectives.
1. Into the Woods

Chapter 1: Into the Woods

The pack moved through the woods as one. A giant beast with five heads moving onward, never ceasing in its pursuit of new prey. Behind them they left nothing but the trampled bushes and cracked limbs as they stomped out any moving life and consumed it. At last the leader stopped and sniffed at the sky. The other four knew, somehow remembered, that he was in charge, that he was the one that brought them fresh meat and new toys, and in this case he would lead them to food.

The leader turned and ran to the right, where the woods opened up upon a small lake. A young doe was drinking. All the others, circled around the leader, but no one would make a move until he did. Then, with one giant leap, he launched himself across the clearing and caught hold of the doe by the neck with his teeth. The other four joined in as well and within seconds the deer was struggling no more. It wasn't long before they had stripped away almost all of the flesh from the animal and started back into the forest. The five figures, covered in blood, dirt, hair, and viscera, hardly looked at all. The leader, Fenrir Greyback, looked back at the lake and thought, "Just wait, only four more days until the full moon. Then the fun really starts." None of the other werewolves could tell if the sound their leader made was a laugh, or a howl, but they joined in. For a long time the howling of the five blood soaked creatures filled the night as the pack moved on.

After some time passed another man entered the clearing and took out a wand from the pocket of his shabby cloak. He too was covered in mud and blood but he refused to give into the animal nature just yet. He slowly stripped the remaining meat off the deer's carcass and lit a small fire to lightly cook the meat. He did still prefer it rare. As the light of the fire reflected off the lake he saw his face for the first time in months and he was appalled by just how haggard he had become. Through the filth and scars his eyes showed only pain. Remus Lupin was a broken man.

This was his life now, chasing the pack of ragged beasts he hated so much, living off their scraps, and fearing that every day he might come closer to becoming one of them.  
"Has it only been six months." he thought, or said, or screamed, he was never sure anymore. Especially when his mind led him down that path, the path to Lily, to James, to Sirius...  
His eyes welled up with tears as tore into his dinner with a savage intensity that scared him even more.

The details of the past six months were hard for him to think about in the best of times, but it was impossible for him to keep them from repeating themselves over and over in his mind. That his entire world was shattered in those last nights of the Great War. The thoughts always the same, "Lily and James, killed. Harry, taken away." And, worst of all, "Sirius, Sirius how could you." He went after Sirius in those first few days with a conviction, with an obsession. It was too much, and Dumbledore, afraid of the anger, afraid of the darkness that he saw in him asked him to stay back, but he refused and went out anyway. But just before Lupin could find Sirius, Peter did, and Sirius killed him too. Remus watched as Sirius was carted away to Azkaban but it wasn't enough, the pain of their deaths was too much. As the anger flowed through him, he became more and more aware of how unsafe it would be for everyone if he stayed out in the open. The pain, the grief, and the need for action meant he would have to run.

So he went to the one man he felt could understand what he was feeling, the one man he actually felt he could still trust, who wouldn't go to Dumbledore, or question his motives or his methods, Mad-eye Moody. He only cared that someone was still actually planning to do the work of catching dark wizards.

"Are ya planning to take 'em all down?" he growled, magic eye spinning madly.  
"Every last one."  
"Good on ya, then. I'll tell ya all I know."  
And so Lupin learned where Fenrir was last know to be, how his pack hunted and the basics of how to follow werewolves without detection and set out. This was to be his last act, the end of the war and his personal hell. To kill the monster who turned him into a beast, and hopefully die as well.

For two months Lupin chased down bad leads, old trails, and dead ends. But in the past week he finally caught up with them. Followed them from afar as they hunted like animals, though all of them were entirely human. Now he had to figure out how to fight them. Certainly if he wanted to live this would be impossible, but that was irrelevant. He only cared that he won. As he packed up his meager camp and extinguished his fire he thought, "There has to be a way," and he stepped into the woods.

Nearly half a mile away, Fenrir Greyback sniffed, and smiled.


	2. Origins

Chapter 2: Origins

Lupin followed the trail farther and farther into the forest. Every few hours he would recite the incantations Moody taught him which, hopefully, would mask his scent and keep the werewolf pack from noticing his presence. The trailing was going well, he thought, but the entire process was dangerous, and limiting. Either he would slip up, or the pack would kill him before he had the chance to make any difference, or the full moon would come and any advantages he might have over them would be gone. But, no way to actually encounter the pack and have any chance at victory occurred to him. The sun began to break over the horizon and Lupin decided to allow himself a quick nap, as the pack usually slept for the greater part of the morning and it seemed he would have to act soon. He took out Moody's invisibility cloak and settled to the ground in the roots of a tree.

Fenrir sat apart from the napping pack who were nestled together in heaving mass on the forest floor. He could remember the smell, a boy from long ago. Now the boy was stronger, more determined, but far less stable. Fenrir was certain the boy was still following them even though the scent was gone, this was excellent. Either the boy would join the pack, or they would have some fun with a target that presented something closer to an actual challenge.

He remembered them all, not the kills of course there were far too many of those, but the bites. The intentional makes, and the few who simply got away. They were always fun and he delighted in them. He would toy with them, push them, make them beg or make them so angry they could not wait for the chance to bite someone else. The delight was so intense that Fenrir felt it made him feel, giddy, almost human. This was always unfortunate for whoever he came across next.

Fourteen times Fenrir had intentionally made a werewolf, including three of the four in this very pack. There was another pack of four, six were dead, and one, long forgotten. He had made each of them for a reason, though he made sure never to bother with anyone over seventeen, only the young were the proper mix of flesh and fire. In this pack alone there were a mix of reasons for each of the choices. Lycrus was the largest, even larger than Fenrir himself, and quite stupid but his brute force made the packs kills far quicker, and Lycrus never interfered with Fenrir's games with the victims. Rocherna was the she-wolf of this pack, she was also well built, but very fast. Narius was chosen because of the extra joy it gave Fenrir to cause the pain to hurt his family, he was nothing special before. Finius was the last and the smallest, still only a boy even now. It was Fenrir's delight to see Finius raised into a proper beast. Each of these intentional makes gave Fenrir a certain satisfaction. As far as he could tell there were few things more exciting than watching a new make on his first full moon.

This boy was not supposed to be a make, that was supposed to be the girl, she had been his target. Fenrir tried to think back and remember more than the smells, smells were easy, anything else required far more effort to force into his mind. There was blood of course, the boy's, and the girl's he could see that, and the parents screaming. He mouth watered as he thought of how delicious it had been. But there was something else, burning. The house where he had gone to find the girl, she was twelve or so and he had been following her for days, caught on fire during the fray.

The girl had started it, just after he had taken the parents, after he had bitten them both, but before he could finish off the boy and really start to play. She took out a wand and launched a ring of fire around the room, and all over him. He ran, burning badly, back out into the night. He had been quite upset that he didn't get to finish his snack, and wound have taken it out on the girl, but she didn't make it out of the fire. The little boy did though, and for awhile he found it fun to hound the boy, to try to push him to accept his fate. The boy's grandparents took him in though, and Fenrir had lost any way to track him after that. "Such fun," Fenrir croaked, as he forced himself to remember speech. He figured that would be necessary if he wanted to play properly with this old toy.

Fenrir curled up with his pack and went to sleep.


	3. Confrontation

Chapter 3: Confrontation

Lupin woke up quickly checking that that the cloak was still wrapped tightly around him. Nothing seemed amiss and the woods were quiet and still. The dream however had been all too vivid, and the gnashing horrible face of Fenrir Greyback was all that he could see. It wasn't just the dream though, somehow things were off, and it was settled. This had to be the night.

The pack had traveled several miles over the past few days, so that now they were no longer in the deepest parts of the forest. Now they were on the outskirts of Derwent, a muggle village on the outskits of the forest. The little village was quaint and antiquated, with few connections in or out and without access to most modern muggle conveniences. Lupin had been here before, in happier days though they had seemed so dark at the time. He and Sirius spent two weeks tracking down a death eater near the end of the war, and Derwent was where they finally found her. With a twinge of guilt at how easily the thought came to him, Lupin knew where to go, and why. "The perfect place for a massacre," he growled. There was only one more night until the full moon.

Lupin knew he had only this one chance to stop the pack, one day that he might be able to make a difference before he would either be incapacitated by the stale wolfsbane in his cloak, dead, or joining in the slaughter. He packed away and headed back to the trail, no longer trying to keep a distance and observe, but trying to gain on them. The only chance would be an ambush taking Fenrir out first, then hopefully he could get off enough curses to mortally wound, or at the very least maim, a few of the others… before they ripped him to pieces.

From following the pack he had picked up several key insights he hoped to use to his advantage. First, none of them had wands, and they had exhibited any magical quality at all. Second, while they definitely had superior senses of hearing and smell, this seemed to come at the expense of their sight. Finally, Lupin knew exactly what Fenrir would be after and where he would be immediately be drawn in this village. Lupin turned off the trail and headed straight into the heart of the town. He knew the pack would wait until dark but the first attack would certainly come that night. Fenrir would want the townspeople to know that over the next three days they would not be visited by ordinary wolves.

The pack tore ahead, smashing and breaking and tearing with more intensity than ever. Until finally they Fenrir stopped. He knew their follower had gone. It seemed most likely he had gone ahead of them into the town. "Good," Fenrir growled, "playthings all over." He peered out from the trees at the small houses that line the tiny street. Each of those tiny houses was brimming with meat and other pleasures he so desperately wanted to taste, but it was not quite yet time. The pack began to advance on the first house but Fenrir signaled them to back off. Lycrus was unable to hide the resentment on his face and had begun to think about whether he should keep listening to Fenrir or if it was time to start doing things on his own. He took another step out toward the village.

In a flash Fenrir was beside him, barred his pointed teeth in a cracked smile, and lept forward biting into the side of the larger man's face. He tore a gigantic gash in Lycrus' cheek which began to spew blood all over the forest floor. Fenrir swallowed the hunk of flesh and watched for a bit as the large man bled. "Mud," grunted Fenrir, and Lycrus buried his bloody face in the wet ground. The pack was back in order.

Lupin found his way quickly through the town. While it was the case that Fenrir could attack anyone he had certain preferences, as Lupin remembered all too well: children, young women, and strong men. This town had a small church school that housed most of the children from the surrounding countryside throughout the school year and was run by a group of young nuns. Lupin was certain that this was where Fenrir would strike, and it seemed likely that it had been his target for heading to Derwent in the first place. It was tucked away, off the main street, and the design of the building meant it would be difficult for anyone to get away, and nearly impossible for people to come to help. Between the teachers and students there were probably thirty people in the two story building and none of them were older than twenty-five. "His favorites," Lupin laughed as he hopped the short fence surrounding the school.

Twilight hit the town and the pack appeared on the outskirts. "Tonight, games. Tomorrow, feast," thought Fenrir, but all he said was, "Now." The pack leapt into the street, hoping to be seen, or better yet, confronted. Fenrir led them straight toward the most delicious smells where, of course, the boy was also waiting. No one stopped them, or even stepped foot outside their houses, it was if no one even noticed the commotion in the street. The pack arrived at the school. Fenrir kicked open the door at the back of the first floor, which led directly to the children's dormitory and motioned the pack inside. He didn't follow, instead climbing the outside of the building.

The students awoke to howls as the four beasts burst into the dormitory and began to scream. Lupin, who had been hiding in the garden behind the building crashed in through a side window and started casting spells at the attackers. Finius, the smallest of the pack, grabbed a trembling girl, and tore away at her neck. Lupin advanced on him firing a stunning curse that hit him directly in the face from inches away. Finius' jaw exploded and he fell motionless to the ground. Once they saw Finius fall, the others dropped their prey and advanced on the pesky man with the lighting stick. The rushing, panicked students stamped across the room, so escaping through windows, others dragging away the injured and bleeding. Lupin concentrated his energy on the injured Lycrus, who was slowed by loss of blood and the still seeping wound to his face. A direct spell finally hit the patched cheek and Lycrus fell to the ground, now gushing more and more blood from his face. The other two, while being stunned and slowed somewhat by the spells eventually converged on Lupin and wrestled his wand away. As Decora licked her lips and prepared to feast; a voice filled the room saying, "No. The boy is mine."

Fenrir's body was entirely covered in blood and he had entered from a small stairway inside the room that led up to the teacher's chambers. "Give me that one," he said, "you'll find your treats upstairs." Decora threw him the wand and they hurried up the small stairway.

"Well, boy," Fenrir croaked as he picked at his teeth with his clawed fingers, "mighty good plan you had here. How's your sister?"

Lupin lunged for his wand but Fenrir caught him by the arm with his gigantic hand. "None of that, boy. Now tell me, what brings you around?" Lupin fought to get free and bit hard at Fenrir's hand. Fenrir laughed, "Oh, much better," and threw him across the room. Lupin crashed hard into the wall. "Now," Fenrir grabbed Lupin again and put his face as close as he could to Lupin's. Flith and blood and years of decadence rained down on Lupin as Fenrir said, "Why did you come to me?"

"Why did I come?" thought Lupin. "Obviously, to die, but was that all? Just as obviously I was never going to be able to help. So why?" As if he had been inside Lupin's head Fenrir answered. "You came to learn. They always do."

Fenrir Greyback threw Remus Lupin to the floor of the schoolhouse. "So, learn," he smiled. He lifted his right hand, and Lupin could see that the middle two fingers were not human at all, but the horrible pointed claws of a wolf. Fenrir drew back the claw and slashed it down across Lupin's face and blood sprayed out from the fresh wound.

"Learn!" he said as he drew back the claw again.


	4. Full Moon

Chapter 4- Full Moon

Lupin passed out and Fenrir tied him up and drug him back into the forest. Soon he was joined by the two remaining members of the pack. The evening had certainly been enjoyable, but not much of it had gone according to his plan. The loss of two members of the pack was entirely unexpected, but both losses were attributable to particular circumstances. Finick had been hit with a strong spell, but his own stupidity and weakness had caused him to collapse and snap his neck. Fenrir had always figured the tiny framed man was weak and unworthy of the gift anyway, so this loss was of no consequence. Lycrus' death Fenrir blamed on himself. His punishment had been just, but the loss of blood was too severe and Lupin had landed what turned out to be a lucky shot. Fenrir sighed, he would definitely need to find a new bit of muscle for the pack. Lycrus, as stupid and impulsive as he could be, would be missed.

Luckily the evening had been successful in other ways. Fenrir and the others had satisfied their hunger in the teacher's chamber of the school and he could smell the fear spreading widely through the village. Then there was the interesting baby wolf, he fought much harder than anticipated and took far more punishment than expected. Maybe he would prove to be helpful in the long run. Though his attempt to stop the attack had failed to the point of being ridiculous Fenrir couldn't help but enjoy the rather startling lack of concern the boy showed for rationality and his own well being. It would make this evening's events under the Full Moon much more fun.

This day, the one immediately before the moon, was always Fenrir's favorite. He could feel his blood flow faster, his temperature start to rise, and every inch of his body would begin to tingle in anticipation of the probing power to come. It was this feeling that had started him on his delightful romps the night before, he wanted the rush and discovered the more he pushed toward the feelings the more overwhelming they would become. His excitement pushed forward his desires, and indulging them only created an intense need to push even farther. Which was excellent, there was nothing Fenrir enjoyed more than indulging his desires.

It seemed to start long before he has a real understanding of what it meant to be a werewolf. In the earliest days he even regretted it, like so many of his pathetic victims, even he had longed to be free from the "curse," or from life itself. Fenrir became angry, none of the thoughts of those early years, or the time before the change, normally came to him at all. The boy, this Lupin, seemed to remind him of how he too was once one of these pathetic beasts, these mixtures of food and toy. Even though it had been longer since he bit Lupin than anyone in the current pack, Lupin still smelled like one of them, ridiculous and weak, human. "How pathetic you are," Fenrir growled at the bound figure who lay slumped on the ground. "But tonight," he said as he took the bottle of disgusting brew, the poisonous dreck called "wolfsbane" on the side of a tree, "you get to play." There was nothing left to do but wait.

As the sun began to set Fenrir and the pack removed their robes and headed out toward the village. Lupin still lay slumped against the tree, unconscious and unable to come along. Fenrir smiled to the others, "Once the change happens he'll be right along." They disappeared beyond the trees. As the moon began to rise and his blood began to pump faster, Lupin finally stirred. His hair was growing and his skin burned hot as flame, pain throughout every inch of his body. He saw the empty potion bottle on the ground and grabbed up the leaves around it stuffed them into his mouth and the leaned against the tree and licked off the remains of the potion, hoping he might get at least enough in his system to slow himself down. The change began as his feet and hands started to grow claws and his torso stretched and ripped at his robes. Fighting through his agony he grabbed his wand from the pile of Fenrir's robes and whispered, "expecto patronum." A giant silver dog erupted from the tip and looked up at him. Lupin hardly had time to process his thought as his muscled ripped and his hair grew. "why have you not changed shape," he growled. And then just as his back arched he pushed through his fangs the words, "warn them." The dog patronus burst forth into the village, passing through the running wolves. Back in the forest a fourth werewolf tore off to join them in their hunt.

Cowering people looked out of their windows to see what seemed like a large blue ghost dog announcing with a booming voice that rattled off every building in the village, "Werewolves are coming! Bring silver to fight, or run! Now!" The townspeople had been in a state of panic since the events of the previous night, four teachers and two students from the school were dead or missing, and the bodies had been attacked in such a way that people were already convinced this couldn't have been a human attack, or one by any known animal. No one had any idea of how to respond to this blue apparition, but it carried a warmth and a sense of safety, they felt that it was there to protect them. Many people rushed after it, trying to stay as close to the warm aura as they could. As it ran it gathered a crowd behind it and led them all out into the woods where it expanded into a blue glow. Several people grabbed guns and clubs and gathered on the main street. "Just wolves, eh," said one, as they prepared to fight back.

Archibald McGinnis did neither of these things. He was an old man, stooped and grey and hobbled, he had lived in the village for 35 years in a tiny cottage on the outskirts of town, nearly in the forest. He stomped out to the small shack behind his house that he hadn't entered for at least 30 of those years, had to kick the door open and stumbled around in the dark and dust until he saw a small box on a high shelf. He climbed up on a chair, pulled on the box and it fell, spilling open on the floor revealing a moth eaten robe and a wooden wand. "Twelve inches, willow, dragon heartstring," a voice echoed in the back of Archibald's head as he climbed down, grabbed the wand, and walked as quickly as possible toward the center of town. The men and women who had fought the wolves lay in pieces on the ground. Ripped apart and forgotten by the pack as they had gone in search of fresher meat. Archibald stumbled as he saw the carnage, and had to force himself to continue. Ahead he could hear the shrieks of victims and the screeching howls of the wolves. He turned to the face the house from which the noises were coming, muttered a silent spell and disaparated.

Inside the house the wolves had taken down three of the inhabitants but two girls had managed to fight them off momentarily and found themselves in an upper bedroom behind a barricade made of metal beams and wooden furniture. All three wolves fought and tore at the barricade and began to break through. Just as it seemed that they were through all of the metal transformed into silver with a sudden lurch and the wolves were pushed backward by pain and confusion. The older girl, Madelyn, used this time to try to think of ways to better hold them off. She thought of the ghost dog and its warning and rushed to the closet in the back of the room where her parents had hidden her Grandmother's old rifle. When she found the bullets she noticed that these, like the beams, had turned to silver. She shouldered the gun, and walked back out to face the wolves.

The wolf was at the barricade trying to figure out how to get through the barrier that now caused such horrible pain as Madelyn drew back the gun and fired. She hit the wolf in the shoulder and it cried out in pain as blood burst forth and the second wolf leapt at the cause of its partner's pain. Madelyn fires again and hit the second wolf in the leg and a third shot finally drove the wolves from the room. Madelyn and her sister collapsed into each other's arms and cried, but she kept the rifle at her side ready for the next wolf to show its face.

A loud pop drew Madelyn away from her sister and to the window where she saw old man McGinnis and three others in cloaks with wooden sticks shooting red sparks at the retreating wolves as they ran out into the forest. She and her sister pushed aside the barricade, ran past the bodies of their parents and brother and out to the street to find out what was happening. No one noticed the fourth wolf slumped in the alley just outside of the house.


	5. Wizards and Wolves

Chapter 5: Wizards and Wolves

Madelyn and Fiona rushed toward Mr. McGinnis, the only one of the cloaked figures they knew. "Stay back Maddy," the old man said through the corner of his mouth, "ya never know when they might decide to forget the pain and come back to finish us off." Maddy was baffled by the cloaked figures, but she was also never one to miss a chance to learn something knew. She studied each of them with her usual intensity, trying to concentrate on every detail before her in order to put the horrors of earlier in the evening as far away as possible.

Each of the people wore a long cloak with a hood that could conceal their head if they wanted. They also each carried a small piece of wood that she identified as real, working, magic wands. Standing closest to Mr. McGinnis was a tall blonde woman, probably not much older than Maddy. She wore a thatched cloak over a set of deep purple robes and moved with the grace and determination of the dancers Maddy had only seen when her family went to visit London. The thought of her family brought a tear to her eye, but she quickly and angrily pushed it aside and continued to take in these odd strangers. Standing near the tree line was a short, skinny man with his hood down revealing his almost entirely bald head. He looked intently into the woods, but seemed fearful of what he would see. Anytime there was a sound or movement, he would jump so much he would nearly drop his wand. Father down the street a tall young black man was searching each house for danger, survivors, and bodies. He moved with a skillfulness and grace that made Madelyn think he was in charge of the others, he was fascinating. As he disappeared down a side street Maddy turned to Mr. McGinnis.

"Where did these… werewolves come from and why did they attack us?" Maddy asked, as Fiona clutched at her side and started to sob again.

"No idea why they came here. It had to have been on purpose. I've never seen them hunt in a pack before."

"… never seen them in a pack before… You mean you see werewolves often?"

"No not often. But back when I lived with my people, we'd sometimes have to deal with an attack or two…"

"Your people. People like them," she pointed to the others starting to let the sadness and the anger overtake her, "People who apparently could stop this, but didn't bother... then you decide to come help after it is too late, after they seem to have killed nearly everyone." She struggled not to let her voice break as she stared into the old man's eyes. He looked down, ashamed.

"You are right… I should have gone for help yesterday, but I didn't want to believe it was werewolves. It isn't so easy, going back to them. I ran away a long time ago… I couldn't take it. Things were bad and people were dying and I just thought… I just thought things would be easier to take out her alone."

"But you weren't alone. We were all here… and you let us die, when you could have stopped it." Maddelyn nearly spit the words.

"I tried… I was never a very skilled wizard… I was scared… I did eventually bring these Auers back to help." Archie McGinnis sat down in the street and began to cry as well, Fiona sat beside him as they both wept.

Madelyn looked at the old man and tried to understand. She knew he had saved them both, that he had to have been behind the appearance of the silver, but she couldn't forget that if he had used these powers the day before, and brought more of these others who could do magic sooner then her parents, and who knows how many others would still be alive. "Where is everyone else," she said aloud, "I don't think they can all be dead."

"They followed a blue ghost to the edge of town." Fiona said, and she pointed past the square to the think trees and rock formations to the west. Madelyn started running that way but she was immediately stopped by a spell from the short wizard's wand. Her entire body felt as if it had been bound and she fell face first into the mud on the street.

"Sorry miss. But the Department of Magical Law Enforcement cannot allow unarmed muggles to enter into direct battle with dangerous beasts. It is a very necessary safety regulation." As the man said these words his own fear and nervousness seemed to flit away. Cornelius Fudge was most comfortable with matters of simple law, and in this case he figured he was also saving the poor muggle from certain death. "In fact, Archibald, please help me gather the information on these two young ladies so we can modify their memories, get them out of here and quarantine this site. As there seem to be no other survivors."

The woman spoke, "But there are survivors Cornelius, at least if we act quickly. It seems there was another wizard here who sent a Patronus to try to help these people."

"Well that's preposterous, Matilda; Patroni would have no effect on werewolves. Even if there was one, they are certainly in no shape to need assistance now."

"We need to at least find out," Matilda said as she stormed off in the direction Fiona had pointed.

"Kingsley, get back here! I need you to help me sort this out!" Fudge shouted through his wand.

Fudge walked over to Fiona and raised his wand. "Look, I am very sorry about everything," he said, "but we need to follow procedure. Obliviate." A lingering light came from his wand and attached itself to Fionna's head. Her eyes went blank and she stopped crying. He walked over to Madelyn, turned her over and looked into her eyes. "Now for you." Just as Fudge raised his wand Mr. McGinnis finally moved, picking up his own wand and shouting, "No wait, we might need her help!" At the same moment from far down the street a low calm, deep voice rumbled, "expeliarmous." And Fudge's wand went flying into Kingsley's outstretched hand.

"Cornelius, there are about 20 bodies in the town and it obviously has a far higher population than that. We need to find the rest of the muggles and protect them. This young woman may be able to help us, as she had proven to be a good shot." He smiled at the still petrified Madelyn. "So release her," he threw Fudge back his wand. " And lets follow Matilda and help her. Archie, please stay with the young girl inside until we return, it obviously is unsafe and since Cornelius was stupid enough to jump the gun on her memory she will be out of it for awhile." For a moment they all stood. "Now," Kingsley said, his low voice tinged with a hint of malice. And they each did exactly as he said.

Once Madelyn was freed Kingsley leaned down over her and said, "I know you are angry and you don't want to trust us, but we need to do this. I will explain everything, if we live. But your friends need your help; we can't do this without you." Madelyn, through her fear, the pain of all the loss of the past few hours and her hatred of Fudge looked into Kingsley's eyes and said. "I'm in." She grabbed her gun off the ground and stormed ahead, followed closely by Kingsley and Fudge. Archibald McGinnis took Fiona back into his house laid her on the couch and set himself by the door armed with his wand.

The three werewolves had run deep into the forest in an attempt to escape the noise and pain. The largest wolf, Fenrir, had been hit on his shoulder and the pain had been intense, unlike any of the other pains he could remember. His mind worked in flashes, smells, and his memories were of feelings and meals. But now he felt something new, a tongue, not the sharp tearing of teeth was dipping into the painful hole on his shoulder. He could smell his own blood and even through the pain it made him want to run, to tear and bite and strip the flesh off of something. But somehow he was being treated differently. He turned his head, despite feeling intense pain and causing blood to gush forth from his wound. Just before he lost consciousness, his fur matted and blood all over he saw a small wolf's face, one he knew, Rocherna, tenderly licking his wound. Not feeding on him, but something else entirely. Fenrir lost consciousness with new feelings overwhelming him.

The third wolf watched the other two, the pain from the shot he took to the leg subsiding. There was meat here to be taken, but even injured he respected the alpha. Instead he sniffed the air and howled. He could smell them, ahead in the woods only about two miles away. The ones he had smelled in the town but never found. He would go, he would play, and when he was done. He would return and then he would be the alpha. Narius the werewolf ran away from the clearing, as quickly as he could on his hobbled leg. Rocherna watched him go, wanting to follow, but she could not. She continued to lick the wound in her partner's shoulder until the blood stopped flowing. The she put her head down on his to rest and wait for him to awaken.

Soon Narius reached the group of frightened and tired refugees from the town. They had been running for hours and were falling away from the great blue dog. The werewolf sprang at one of the people who had fallen away toward the back of the line. The Patronus sensed the trouble at once and turned back toward the attacker. "Keep running," it said as it ran to distract the wolf from his victim. The panicked people ran as fast as they could, only a few seeing the great blue dog collide with the wolf and instantly disappear.


	6. Capture

Chapter 6- Capture

The spell broken, terror filled the kids as they scrambled in as many directions as they could. Narius, the werewolf, tracking after the slowest easily overtaking them, even with his leg still wobbling behind him. The wolf drew up to land a killing bite to the neck of one of his victims when a sharp sound distracted him.

"Protego!" yelled Matilda as she steped into the clearing and a shield of yellow light wrapped itself around the intended victim. The werewolf was thrown backwards by the spell but quickly regained his feet and, focused his attention entirely on the newcomer. Narius pounced at her and though she dove to her right to avoid him her foot became entangled in some of the roots. As she fell, she lost her grip on her wand. When she hit the ground the wolf was already upon her, ripping at her skin with a renewed abandon, tearing deep into her flesh with his mangled teeth. At that moment the werewolf was knocked aside by a jet of bright red light.

"Incarcio," said Kingsley as he ran forward and coiled ropes appeared around Narius, who frantically thrashed at hem and wailed. The wolf let out a long, loud howl that shook the forest as Kingsley bent down to examine Matilda. Suddenly, the werewolf burst free from the bonds and leapt at him. Kingsley was able to hold him off with another volley of sparks but the wolf pushed back until Kingsley was pinned against the side of the wood. The werewolf abruptly pounced back upon Matilda's unconscious body and raised himself for the final blow to Matilda's neck. In the distance the werewolf heard the sound of a gun firing. It was during his decent that the bullet caught him, just below the jaw. His face shattering into a spray of blood and silver.

Madelyn started to run forward, the gun aimed and ready to fire again but Kingsley stopped her with a nod from across the clearing and ran back to the prone figures alone, wand at the ready. But figures were bloody and unconscious but still alive, if only barely. Matilda had been severely bitten and was bleeding profusely from her neck and torso, Kingsley mended her wounds with swiftness and gentleness. Narius was glowering up at him, eyes still full of rage and lust for blood, though the wolf's mouth was entirely gone and gaping hole in his face was gushing blood. Kingsley looked away with anger and disgust, but also performed a quick silent spell that stopped the flow of blood. He was in the middle of the spell to levitate both figures back to town when he heard Madelyn scream. Kingsley turned to see her being circled by the other two werewolves. Kingsley ran back toward them.

Madelyn had been intently watching Kingsley working to save Matilda and had not had time to aim the gun when the wolves got to her. They both attacked in tandem, knocking her to the ground and scratching her deeply across the chest and legs, but before either of them bit they stopped and seemed to look at each other, and the injured one seemed to nod to the other. The uninjured werewolf went off running toward the town and the second, Fenrir, prepared to bite into what he figured would be his last kill. Fenrir, even in his lupine state could tell that the removal of the bullet had taken a huge toll, he was hardly surprised when he was hit so hard by Kingsley's spell that he fell backwards unconscious. Kingsley cast a full body binding spell on the werewolf and kept running past Madelyn, following the other wolf back to the town.

By modifying the old spell used to reveal any people in a building with a tweak of his own invention, Kingsley was quickly able to discover the third wolf. It seemed to have run back into Madelyn's house to prepare a surprise attack. When Kingsley searched the house he found the wolf, unconscious in corner, still covered in blood. Kingsley put the binding spell on this wolf as well and brought it back outside where he found a sullen Fudge standing in the street.

"Here is the last of them. I'll go back for the other two and then we can send for task force to take care of the rest of this," Kingsley said pointing to the decimated town, through obvious rage, "Matilda is bitten, seriously wounded… and so is the girl, we'll need to take them to St. Mungos."

"We will do no such thing with the muggle. Certainly Matilda, though what she did was a serious breach of protocol…"  
"We will be taking them both back with us, Fudge" Kingsley said with a serious darkness that Fudge knew he would be unwise to test any farther.

"Alright. Round everything up so we can get out of this mess. I'll call for the task force. Go on then!"

"Be quick, we need to keep an eye on this one Fudge, I have no idea why it is unconscious, but it bothers me," said Kingsley as he ran back to the clearing. Fudge disapperated from the street, leaving the unconscious and bound Lupin alone. After only a minute Fudge reappeared, surrounded by group of six black clad wizards with hooded faces. Obvliviators.  
"Go ahead, you have your orders from the Minister and from me. Full erasure. " The black clad figures stormed down the street destroying each house they passed.

Kingsley made it back to Madelyn and realized she had been cut far deeper than he anticipated. Once again he performed his mending charm but it could only stop the bleeding. Madelyn started to shiver from the pains of the evening, both physical and mental, and Kingsley picked her up, and held her close to his own body as he performed the spells to levitate the others back to town.

When they arrived Fudge was prickly. "Are we almost finished here?" he scowled. "Let's go!"

Madelyn spoke with a weakened voice, "Where are my sister and Mr. McGinnis?"

Kingsley saw them, off in the distance, stooped low, at the head of a small crowd of the remaining citizens of Derwent. Kingsley put Madelyn softly to the ground and ran to the scene. The entire crowd was blank and mumbling, including McGinnis, but Fiona was in much worse shape, she simply lay on the ground mouth moving without words.. The Obliviators had lined up every person who was still found alive in the town and erased their memories with the brutal efficiency they always employed. McGinnis had made no effort to indicate he was a wizard, and now even he would never know. Fiona, her memory wiped for the second time in as many hours was reduced to the mentality of a baby. The Obliviators were out, destroying still more of what remained of the town. Kingsley reached down and picked up Fiona and walked back to the others, without a second look at McGinnis.

"I have her," he said to Madelyn as she lost conciousness. He and touched the three victims on their shoulders, Fudge did the same to the werewolves and they disaperated.


	7. Saint Mungo's and the Ministry

Chapter 7- St. Mungos and the Ministry

The group reappeared on a London side street, beneath a large canopy that spread out over an entire city block. Across the street, still under the canopy, was a dilapidated building with a phone booth in front. All around them were enormous holes going deep into the ground. Working in and out of the holes were crews of wizards and witches who were working tirelessly to repair the damage. Voldemort had launched a direct attack here three years before and the toll had been very high.. It had been a devastating blow, in which the Minister of Magic was killed and the building's structural integrity shaken. The fact that the Ministry did not fall, despite the horrific damages and losses of the weeklong attack, had been a rallying point for the entire population. It had led to the leader of the counterattack, Milicent Bulstrode's ascendancy to the post of Minister, Fudge had been angry ever since that he wasn't even considered. He planned to make sure no one overlooked him now. They could see the morning sun, just beginning to rise, through a crack in the enormous canopy.

Fudge started walking toward a small covered fireplace that served as the makeshift entrance for Ministry officials. He drug behind him the there prisoners, who were now fully human, two bloody naked men, one without a jaw, and young man in a ragged robe.

"I'll take care of this lot Shaklebolt," he said, sneering down at the assorted prisoners, "I presume you are taking those poor souls to St. Mungo's?"

"Yes sir," Kingsley replied.

"Oh I presume this one should go with you as well." Fudge kicked the jawless man in what was left of his face. "We'll send someone up to help you get them to the hospital and to stand guard over this vermin. Alright then, get going, I expect you back in about an hour. We'll need to give a full report to the minister and the head of Department. Head on." Fudge disappeared into the fireplace with the unconscious Lupin and Grayback.

Kingsley looked at the three unconscious women as he waited and wondered how these pains would change their lives. He remembered clearly how he came to be dealing with issues like this, and he hated every moment that had led him here. Just three years prior, in his last year at Hogwarts, he had planned to become a healer. The war was raging everywhere and most people tried to force him to fight, but he wanted to soothe. Until, He Who Must Not Be Named came to change all that. Kingsley felt a rush of renewed anger as he remembered, he spit into the night at the revulsion that filled him. He had been home at Easter, visited his family, then three days later the Death Eaters descended. Kinsley could only imagine the pains they suffered, but he vowed to stamp out everyone who had anything to do with the slaughter. Werewolves had been there too, he thought as he looked at the pulsating scars on Maddelyn's face and arms, and the bleeding horrors of Matilda. As the guard finally arrived and they disapperated Kingsley thought, "This man will need no guard for long."

Fudge stormed into the main Atrium of the ministry and was met instantly by the three remaining senior Auers. Mad-Eye Moody stared at him. "Been off adventurin' have ya, Fudge?"

"Move along Alastor," said Fudge as he brushed by him, "Someone get these two the facility and get some wolfsbane into them before they wake up and start causing even more trouble." He continued on to the elevators, not looking back, "Keep a close watch on them and let me know when they are cognizant. I'll be with the Minister."

Moody leaned over the unconscious figures and recognized Remus Lupin instantly, "Remus… dumb jackass… what the hell," he muttered. "I've got to go, no! Take 'em on and keep watch, and keep Fudge away from them." He turned and headed directly back to the flu network room. He stopped at the first one, muttered, "Hogwarts" and was gone in a flash of green flame.

The other two Auers took the prisoners deep into the bowels of the Ministry. Once they stopped the descended a long staircase and came to a row of dungeon cells. They opened two small adjacent cells and secured Lupin and Fenrir to identical slabs of stone, binding their hands and legs with ropes of silver. The Auers injected the unconscious pair with a mixture of Wolfsbane and a sedative potion and magiced the cell doors closed behind them as they left.

Kingsley arrived at St. Mungo's still carrying the little girl, he realized he had not learned her name and the realization hit him that she may never remember it herself. He hurried forward toward the darkened and overflowing hospital, with Madelyn floating behind him and the guard with the werewolf struggling to keep pace. The hospital was dreary, the mood still bleak from thirteen years of war. The building had never been so full of the cursed and incurable and the healers had to struggle everyday, even now that the war had ended, to carry on.

Hestia Arbuck, the head healer, met the group at the entrance. Before she could say a word she was throw into a frantic state by seeing the horrible condition of the patients. She rushed straight to Matilda and gathered the critically injured witch up closely into her arms. "Oh dear," she said after examining her, "we must hurry if we want to have any hope of saving her." She removed her wand and a spike of orange light, which could be seen all around them, came out instantly. At the sight of the light four more healers came rushing out of the building and two ran to the other victims.

Hestia and the other two healers took Matilda into the building and through a door behind the main checkin point with a sign that read, "Special Services and Critical Injuries. Do not Enter."

One of the two healers who stayed with Kingsley ask, "what is the nature of their injuries?"

"This little one was obliviatated twice in one hour."

"That is deplorable! Such people," cried the older healer, Belinda Flowers, who picked her up and tenderly walked with her to the elevators.

Kingsley looked into the eyes of the last healer, another young healer named Alex. A man Kingsley knew very well. Alex did not need to ask what was wrong with Madelyn. But he did walk over and put his hands gently on Kingsley's shoulders. Kingsley started to speak, but he could barely keep the emotion from overshadowing his words, "This one was attacked too, by two of them. Badly mauled… I was able to patch her up some…. But as you know Alex, I never…"

"Yes, Kingsey, I understand," said the kind faced healer. He looked Madelyn over and suppressed a smile, "Your skills have certainly not declined, you are as subtle and delicate with a healing spell as ever. She is actually going to be alright, you got most of the poison out. Though of course these marks are a different matter. She won't be able to stay here though, without her injuries being life threatening we have no room. I'll give her some potions to take away and use for the scars though … and the pain." Kingsley watched the man intently as he walked into the building. "You did excellent work, Kingsley. Come on; let's get her cleaned up so you can get on your way."

Moments later Kingsley was back at the Minstry with the still unconscious Madelyn and several vials of the potions that should revive and eventually heal her wounds. Kingsley was careful to wait until she was safely in the specially appointed "Muggle Accommodation Room" before he finally tipped a small vial of potion to here lips. As the potion started to awaken her Madelyn felt the horrible pains completely overwhelm her entire body. She could hardly move her mouth to scream as the pain was so intense she began seize up all over. Kingsley came up to her with the pain soothing potion, but she would not let him near her, using whatever strength she could she lashed out to keep him away.

"Please take this," Kingsley pleaded, "it won't make the pain go away, but it will make it bearable."

Madelyn looked at the man, into his eyes, fighting to hold herself together through the pain. She trusted this man, she knew that, even though he was a part of this whole evil new world that seemed intent on destroying her, and all she loved. She stopped fighting and he put the vial to her lips. She drank and the soothing potion spread through her instantly. Yet the pain remained, now just throbbing instead of stabbing. She could not move and could barely speak, but she at least felt like she might live to see another day.

"The potion will wear off every four hours," Kingsley told her, "It should take a few days and the wounds will start to scab a bit, but it will be a long and painful process to get them to close entirely. You have about a week's worth of pain relief potion and salve that you need to rub on the wounds." He pointed to the back of the room where the potions were neatly stacked and labeled. "You should be able to go home in about a week."

Madelyn's mind raced with ten thousand questions, each one fighting to be the first she asked. She wanted to know where she was. Where she would be going if she healed. Where all these "Magic" people came from and why they had burst into her life. The she remembered seeing her parents ripped to shreds and then one thought came that overwhelmed all the others and it was that question that she voiced.

"Is my sister alive?"

"Yes, she is alive," Kingsley said his face stricken.

"Is she here? Is she alright? What has happened to her?" the strain on Madelyn's face became ever more visible as she struggled to sit up and her mind reeled.

"She is at St. Mungo's the wizarding hospital. The wolves didn't get to her. But, I'm afraid one of our officials overdid it on spell that was supposed to make her forget all this. Her brain was sent into a state of shock and they are working to bring her back around."

"A spell, on her mind?" Madelyn seethed, "Who are you disgusting people?" Madelyn tried to back away from Kingsley, but the pain was too severe to move.

"Please listen to me, I hate the spell, but it was supposed to help her. Besides, muggles, that is non-magical people like you, are not supposed to know about any of this. We do the spells all the time. Your sister was unfortunately caught up in a bad wave."

"Listen you," Madelyn said, standing up despite the intensity of the pain being so much it was all she could not to scream out in pain, she pointed her finger into Kingsley's face, "You are going to explain everything to me. We're going to get my sister's memory back. Then I'm going to kill the monster's who did all this and my sister and I will go home. And remember this, if you try to put that spell on me, or stop me. I will do everything in my power until the day I die to make you regret it." She fell to the floor overwhelmed and exhausted. "Now please," she said softening a bit to the man who had saved her life, "Tell me everything."


	8. Aftermath

Chapter 8: Aftermath

Lupin awoke, panicked. His arms, legs, and head were shackled to a large slab in a dark, cold cave like room . He tried to call out, but his muffled voice only rattled down the passageway out of the room. After a moment, he began to look around the room as best he could with his head tied to the slab and saw that he was entirely surrounded by thick silver bars. Ahead of him he could see the passageway that led up out of the cave and to his right he could just make out an identical slab in anther cell.

"About time you came out of it, boy," came the muffled growl of Fenrir Greyback.

"How did we wind up here?" Lupin asked in barely a croak as the fears about what he must have done began to overtake him.

"I had quite a party with those muggles, but you chickened out at the last minute and didn't join in." After a slight moment he added with a laugh, "Not that that is going to matter to them."

Lupin strained at the shackles, but they would not loosen. He was able to see more of the room though, including two robed guards standing outside the cells at the entrance to the stairway.

Fenrir could tell that Lupin had noticed the guards, "Forget about them, boy. They're just looking for an excuse to kill us so we won't have a trial. They all are. Even if we don't die here, they will put us up as a show, ridicule us for even existing, and then kill us. If being caged up like this doesn't do it first." With these thoughts panic began to overcome Fenrir and he pulled hard with his clawed hand on the constraints, but they still did not budge. He flashed back to the sights, sounds and smells of freedom. The pack. The female. It was only with great effort that he was able to return to his current predicament and continue his plan. "You and I, boy, we could make a good pack together. You're an idiot, of course, but also a fighter. We need to band together or we will both snuff it here with these unevolved freaks."

"And the muggles? What did you do to them?" Lupin muttered.

"I got a good share, but not all. Little bitch got me with silver." His mind blanked again and he was standing as a wolf in the woods, feeling the pain of the silver in his leg but also something else. He felt the lick of the female, cleaning out his wound, removing the bullet with her teeth. Suddenly he jerked back to the cell. "She will pay somehow," he sneered, "of course, she did have quite a rough time watching while I ripped up her mother. Delicious."

Lupin blanched, threw his head down and let out a cry of anger. "This is what I am," the thought ran through him for what must have been the ten thousandth time, since the beast in the adjacent room first destroyed his life. He couldn't take seeing or hearing the monster that kept on tearing at him. He turned his head away from Fenrir's cell and tried to block the voices and visions from his mind.

"You cannot run from me, boy. You can taste it, smell it. You want what I want. You just keep turning away from the beauty of it. We are right. We are beasts, yes, but we are animals that are much much more than wizards or muggles. Come on with me. Smell it."

"I won't give in." Lupin snarled. He could indeed smell it, especially on those days when the moon was close. He could feel his skin tighten and his mouth water whenever a person walked near him. It had been Sirius, always Sirius who would draw him back from those moments. It was Sirius who held him when things were too hard. Especially after the incident with Snape when he finally seemed to understand just how bad things could be, and how much damage they both could cause if they didn't try to hold back their worst impulses, they were able to work together as a team to support each other. Of course, now Lupin spat at the course of those memories. Sirius was the worst one of all. "Maybe his intentions were always the same as Fenrir's," Lupin thought as the hatred and loss drowned out the world and he closed his eyes.

Cornelius Fudge sat in the waiting area outside the office of the Minister of Magic and eyed the title on the door with desire. "This may be it, my chance to move up, surely not to Minister yet, but somewhere better than I am now," he thought. He was certain that this had to be an important step for him, especially considering that he was not even in charge of Magical Law Enforcement, that was Barty Crouch's area. But Crouch was so busy concentrating on chasing down the remaining Death Eaters that the reports of werewolf attacks had not even concerned him. The newly combined departments of Muggle Relations and International Magical Secrecy were now under Fudge's watch though and he was proud of the big haul. The reports came to his office and he was able to convince the Auers to come with him to protect the muggles. Now three vicious beasts, responsible for at least 40 muggle deaths in the past three days alone, were in custody due to his actions. "Yes," he smiled, "Milicent Bagnold will have to give me a commendation, or even a promotion, for this!" He would be sure too that no one discovered how he had gotten the information. He would tell no one that the traitor had returned and told him about the beasts attacking the village. "No, no one needs to know that, "he thought, as the door opened and he strode into the minister's office.

Kingsley returned to Madelyn's room. He had explained the existence of the Wizarding World and the Statute of Secrecy with kept them from interacting with muggles along with so much else. At every turn though she seemed to get even more bitter and angry about it all. Her anger flowed forth at what seemed to Kingsley to be the strangest of times. Yet, this is what he had promised to do and he hoped that somehow all these talks would help her understand what happened. After just a few minutes of chatting though, he could tell that this was not that day.

Madelyn sat up on the bed, with great effort, and glared at him. "You mean to tell me that there is an entire secret society of specially powered elitists who control the world, and the minds, of humanity and you have no problem with that?"

"Of course the situation is not always optimal, but we try to work for the protection of muggles…"

"Muggles!" snorted Madelyn, "even as you try to defend yourself you insist upon dehumanizing all of us."

"The fact is, we are the minority, we are the ones who were hunted down for a thousand years because of those abilities and because of that it became necessary to separate, and to keep our secrets from…" Kingsley stopped, he had been parroting the ministry lines about the Act of Secrecy since he joined, but it never rang true. In every great Wizarding war it was the muggles who died by the thousands, it was the muggles who lost their jobs and homes and families and would never know the reason. It wasn't just You Know Who and his followers who thought that muggles were inferior, Kingsley thought, it was nearly everyone.

"We have to change all that," he said quietly, more to himself than anyone else.

"Yes, " Madelyn seethed, "now, how long until I am well enough to visit my sister and the fiends below." The pain was intense, but she refused to let it become overwhelming.

"Any day now you should be able to move around a bit," Kingsley said, hoping all the while that the trial would start before Maddelyn forced him to let her see the prisoners.

Fudge returned to his office in a state. The meeting with the Minister was a disaster. Bagnold, ("the old bat,") would not even listen to the case he presented to her. His plan had consisted of two key elements. The first a joint proposal endorsed by Alastor Moody and Barty Crouch would return the ancient guards to the wizarding prison. Dementors had no allegiance but it seemed that they had turned to He Who Must Not Be Named on mass in the war due to the regulations that Dumbledore and Bagnold had succeeded in putting on them. Bagnold had rejected this idea out of hand initially, but when presented with the overwhelming support to reinstate the Dementors because of the fear of the Death Eaters escaping from any other guards, she said she would take it under advisement. It was the outright denial of his second request that had him seething though. He had simply asked that in light of his capture of the three werewolves who had committed countless atrocities, that he be appointed head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Bagnold summarily dismissed the request, calling him to the floor for his behavior and noting that his recklessness in that capture had landed one Auer in St. Mungos and a muggle in the ministry.

Fudge threw down his hat and slammed his hands on his desk. It seemed impossible that he would ever get ahead of Crouch in the hierarchy now.


	9. Stirring Deeply

Chapter 9- Stirring Deeply

Fenrir awoke and for the briefest of moments, he panicked. The constraints did that to him, and now he had been in the chains for four straight days. After the initial anxieties passed though, he felt content. It was certain that the blundering wizards would execute him, but that would give him an opening to bite again. "I may even go willingly," he thought, as he peered into the darkness of the cell beside him, "as long as I can break him as I go." As he noticed some movement from the cell he started to tap his claw against the cold stone, the sound echoed down the chamber and off into the morning.

"Good morning, boy," growled Fenrir, "Good dreams?"

"Just leave me alone," Lupin called back, wearily.

"Why is it that you refuse to live? You are what you are boy, embrace it."

"This has gone on too long, Greyback. You are wasting your breath."

"You came to me."

"To kill you."

"No, you came to me to die." Fenrir smiled, "Maybe to kill me too, you came closer than I thought a child might, but that wasn't your plan and you know it. You realized that living with these pitiful ones was an illusion. By not joining with the Dark Lord, you lost everything. But it was never even a choice for your to join him. Because you belong to me."

"I don't…" Lupin broke off, the thoughts of all he had lost overwhelmed him. Visions of James and Lily dancing, Peter learning to transform to a rat, and the traitor all came into his head in a flash, he smacked his head hard against the stone slab.

"Tell yourself whatever you want, but only a fool would continue to deny this day after day. All your precious friends have left you with nothing but to rot away, here, with me."

Lupin tried to block out the sickening guttural voice, to remember that the world had more things in it to love and that maybe somehow he might leave this cell, but then the guilt and anger reared up inside him once more. All he could do to quell the noise was howl. And so he did, Fenrir howling along beside him.

"Madelyn Gladwell," called the young wizard at the desk, "the Minister will see you now."

Madelyn got up, still slow and stiff and with considerable effort. The poison from the wolf's claws still flowed through the scars that covered half her body and they remained raised and full of puss. She hid the effort and the pain though, and it was with a sense of breezy calmness that she passed through the doorway. As soon as she was inside the office the large oak doors slammed shut behind her, leaving her face to face with the Minister of Magic.

"Sit, please," said the wizened old witch behind the desk. As Madelyn sat in a small leather chair to the side of the huge desk the two women took a long moment to look at each other. The Minister of Magic was a older witch, nearly 70, with a shock of grey in her otherwise jet black hair. She also was very lined, and looked far older than her years. She was small and thin and looked almost frail, but her eyes were sharp and peircing. She was holding her wand in left hand, her entire right arm was missing. Madelyn on the other hand had a lean muscular build honed from years of swimming and hunting with her father. But now with scars across her face and chest, and difficult memories and emotions bringing a hardness to her face, she too seemed aged beyond her years. After a moment, the Minister spoke, her voice soft but official, stern and kind at once.

"You are an object of intense debate in these halls Miss Gladwell. There is considerable anger among the entire Ministry that we are harboring a muggle."

"Muggle." Madelyn spat the word, no matter how many times Kingsley told her it was simply a term that wizards used to describe non-magical people it never ceased to make her skin crawl. The dismissiveness and diminishment of the term made her so angry she could hardly keep her cool even now.

"You dislike the term?" the Minister smiled, "no matter, and no time for that discussion now. The facts are these. Cornelius Fudge and Barty Crouch want your memory modified so we don't have to keep tabs on you anymore and we can send you back to what's left of your home as soon as the swelling goes down. Mr. Shacklebolt, on the other hand, had been advocating for you o keep your memories so you might be able to help your sister recover and participate in the trail against the Werewolves. I tend to agree with Mr. Shacklebolt for the most part, you are smart and reasonably skilled, so you could be useful. Remaining here though does mean you will be in considerable danger."

"Why?"

"There are those who do not appreciate the victory of those of us who are more tolerant over those who were less. Them there are those who would toy with you for fun. Also, there are supporters of… our last great enemy… who have yet to be discovered. Not to mention that the other ministers themselves all simply see you as a cog in whatever plans they have. The wolves who attacked you are below awaiting trial as well."

"I can easily take care of that," Madelyn said crossing her arms defiantly, "and I will not leave until my sister is well. These ridiculous games of yours don't bother me, and if someone comes to erase my memory then your ministry will have even more issues to deal with."

"Good," smiled Milicent Bulstrode as she stood up and walked around the desk, "then we have a bit of work to do."

Lupin saw the sweep of purple robes encrusted with sparking stars swishing in the corner of his eyes and knew instantly who had finally come to visit his cell. Despite the huge argument that ended their last meeting, his excitement to finally see the man again was palpable.

"Dumbledore." Lupin called out, but Albus Dumbledore simply stepped tot the back of the room. Mad-Eye Moody stepped close to Lupin."

"Boy, what on earth caused you to do something so stupid?"His face was close and Lupin could see Moody's magic eye spinning and his other eye shining bright with intensity and delight. "Mighty, idiotic of you," Moody growled as he twisted and stomped from the room.

After several minutes of complete silence, Dumbledore finally crossed the room and looked into Lupin's eyes. "Why did you do this?" he said.

"I didn't… at least… I don't think I did anything to the muggles… I hope…"

"No Remus, why did you go?"

"I needed to. You know it. I had to feel something. I had to do something. "

"This course of action was rash Resmus, the grip we have on our world is still tenuous and you, you seem determined to push us off of it."

The words bit deep, it had always been too much for Lupin when he disappointed Dumbledore. His own transgressions had been constant and he always felt he had been terrible to the man who had given him his chance at having a normal life. But this time the words sent him into a fury.

"A grip on the world? What about this, you knew they died and what he did, and you left me alone to deal with that! Then you took Harry too. You have no trust or use for me. What did you expect, me to disappear? To sit idly by until you worked out some plan?"

"Yes. Better that than a plan that leads to more death and destruction. Acting rashly was a bad plan, I cannot condone any of it." With those words Dumbledore stood and swept from the room.

"Your trial is in three days," he called as he walked down the narrow corridor, "you had best be ready."

Mad-Eye Moody sat quietly in the adjoining cell staring at Fenrir Greyback until Dumbledore was out of the dungeon area. He then walked over to the bound Fenrir and stared right into his face. Fenrir snapped his teeth and growled, but could not reach the man. Suddenly he could not move at all.

"Full body bind, you idiot. Do I look stupid?" Moody laughed. "I'll let you speak for a minute though, we need a little chat. So Greyback, looks like you are finally coming to justice. But I want answers. Just how many people have you killed?"

Fenrir bared his teeth, snapped again and hissed.

"Gonna be that way about it, eh? So be it." Moody pointed his wand at Fenrir's face. "We can play this your way." He smiled, "One last chance, who worked with you when you worked with Him?" Fenrir hissed again. For the next few hours all Lupin could hear was Fenrir Greyback screaming.


	10. Chasing Ghosts

Chapter 10- Chasing Ghosts

Madelyn and Kingsley entered St. Mungo's slowly, every step causing pain to cascade through her body. The side-along apparition was impossibly painful and had caused several of the scars to open back up and bleed. Every few hundred feet the pain would well up so that she had to stop to keep from falling to the ground in agony. She would not be deterred by any of that though. She would not let them see her be a "muggle," would not be weak, she was going to see her sister.

"I am afraid this is going to be quite painful," Kingsley said as they entered the room. "They are doing the best they can, but I am afraid the spells addled her far more deeply than I have ever seen before."

As they entered the room they saw Fiona, sitting on the edge of the bed staring out into the distance. She did not move at all, not even to blink. Madelyn rushed to her sister and took he into her arms. Fionna simply sat, remain still and limp. The pain overwhelmed Madelyn as she buried her head in her sister's shoulder and began to cry.

"They will regret this," she whispered into Fiona's ear through the tears.

Cornelius Fudge stopped just outside Barty Crouch's office and adjusted his hat and coat in the reflection of the door. If he was going to have to see talk to the man who most annoyed him, he thought he may as well look his best doing it. He opened the door and strode to the desk. Crouch was sitting in his chair with his back to the door, he did not turn around as he spoke.

"Nice of you to finally show up Cornelius."

"Why did you call me down here Crouch? I am a busy man."

"Yes, certainly, as am I. I called you here for a simple reason though. Your 'visitor' has gone missing again. You must understand that every time that ridiculous muggle goes wandering off it causes untold amounts of work for my entire department. "

"You know as well as I that I want her gone, but the minister insists…"

"You brought her here, she is your responsibility Fudge. People are beginning to fear that she is a spy for He Who Must Not Be Named, and I am starting to believe it. She is up to some sort of treachery, no doubt."

"I have no time for this Crouch, obviously I also want the girl out of here, but the minister wants her to stay and I can use her in the trail against the vermin."

"Yes, the werewolves, I daresay that bringing in two deadly creatures was excellent work Fudge, far better than we usually see from your measly department. I wonder how you could accomplish such a task."

"Listen here Crouch, I will not be assailed…"  
Crouch looked at Fudge squarely and twisted his mustache. He whispered menacingly, "I know who gave you the information Cornelius. I know that the traitor is behind this, and I will be sure that you get no recognition or advancement out of his help if it is the last thing I do."

Fudge stood up and headed for the door, shouting, "I will not be accused of any treachery here. These are my prisoners and I have done no such thing."

Just before Fudge was out of the door Crouch snarled, "Archibald McGinnis worked for HIM! You should never have been so stupid as to trust him."

The door slammed shut before he finished the sentence.

"Boy," the call was weak and distant. Lupin had not heard Fenrir speak since Mad-Eye Moody visited. He had considered the silence a reward of sorts.

"What do you want from me now?"

"You've seen what your friends think of us. How they treat us as less than human." The voice was thiner, and it was obvious that speaking caused Fenrir great pain. "Why would you want to be a part of that?"

"Right, I'd rather be a beast and rip people apart for sport like you."

"You are not human, you are not a wizard. Without me, you are nothing." Fenrir croaked over the words and fell unconscious, the lingering effects of Moody's torture too much for even his strong form to endure any longer.

For awhile Lupin sat in silence, but finally another voice spoke out. He could not see the speaker, he could tell it was a woman, she was young, she was directly outside his cell, and her voice was filled with hatred beyond any limits he had ever heard before.

"So, here you are. Wallowing in your pains. Pretending to be human. Wonderful," Madelyn spat.

"Who are you?"

"Madelyn Gladwell. You and your friends killed my parents, caused these monstrous so-called 'wizards' to destroy my sister, and are the reason I'm locked up in this hellhole."

"I'm sorry. Really…" Lupin broke off sobbing.

I'm going to kill you."

"If you want to kill me, go ahead. It seems like everyone is into that right now. I can't seem to control myself, and while I didn't attack this village this time, I think it is certain that I will if I were to get free again. The only thing I ask is that you make sure Fenrir and his pack die too."

"Why would you want them dead?

"That's what I was trying to do, but you see how well it worked out for me. Fenrir killed my family and turned me into this monster. Now all my friends are dead, or worse, and I just can't keep on with the same damn horrors happening over and over. Something is broken here, something is turned upside down. We all thought it was the war. But now I don't know."

"I've been listening to the whining from all you wizards since the day I got here. I'll still kill you both, but it does seem that Fenrir is the worse one. But if you didn't attack with him then who did?"

"He was with a whole pack, I actually took out a couple. Then they got to your village and… I think only one got away."

"Then I'll find her and kill her too."

"It doesn't seem to work, somehow Fenrir knew I was coming and used me as a patsy in his plans. She could do the same."

"I can't do anything until I'm healed, I believe you though. If you help me figure out how to get out of this building and find this wolf, I might not have to kill you after all."

"I'll try, but it took months to come up with my last plan, and look where that landed me."

"Yes, but you seem to be a complete idiot. Luckily I'm not." With that Madelyn turned to leave the dungeons, but for the first time since she arrived in this place, she felt less alone.

The sun was just beginning to set when a ragged woman shambled up to the hedge surrounding an old manor house. She took out a wand and blasted a hole through the hedge then stepped through. She was dressed in clothing that was torn to shreds and covered in dark bloodstains. She ran across the grounds staying in shadows and backing behind turrets and statures whenever possible. Once she reached the building she crawled around looking in each window until at last she saw some people in one of the rooms. A pale, sharp featured woman was feeding an equally pale infant. She then knew this was the right house.

Through her frenzy and her pain she had one thought, "Fenrir's friends will help me save him."

She decided to wait until morning before asking though.


	11. Shifts and Cracks

Chapter 11- Shifts and Cracks

The wind was howling loudly through the great windows of the study and as the rain started to pour. Soon the thunder would start, but even if it didn't he thrashing shutters would soon wake the baby. Lucious Malfoy was resigned to that. The child seemed disturbed by the slightest of noises, anything out of order, everything needed to be exactly as little Draco wanted t. it was annoying beyond belief but he resigned himself to the thought that it may mean the boy would insist upon his will being imposed later in life as well. Perhaps the boy would restore the honor to the Malfoy name.

The last few weeks had been an unimaginably difficult time for Lucius and Narcissa. Every step they took was watched by someone from the ministry, there was no convincing some of the fools that they had never been intentionally involved in any of the Dark Lord's plans. Lucius had successfully regained control over Malfoy Manor, and if Barty Crouch could be believed he was now going to be restored to his post at the Ministry. "They need me," Lucius thought, "but let them writhe a bit, like I have, before I return to them."

Lucius stepped away from his desk, rolled up the parchment containing his response to Crouch, and smiled. Matters were certainly improving. He let his mind wander for a moment thinking about what he might be doing at this very moment had the Dark Lord not been defeated, he didn't like the thought. Fighting and killing and possibly dying, while his wife and child sat in some hole wondering if he would ever return.

"This is better," he thought. But only for a moment, as soon as the thought crossed his mind another panic attack hit. He grabbed his left arm and pulled away the sleeve. Nothing was there. But he couldn't be sure. He grabbed he arm and rubbed and scratched and bit. And he screamed. He was still screaming when the house elf and his wife entered the room and gave him a sip of draught of peace. Once the potion hit his system, and he saw his wife, his wits returned and the panic turned to anger.

"Elf!" he screamed, "These shutters are disturbing my son. You will remove them, now!"

"But sir, the rain, and it is high up sir. Not now, please sir."

"You will do it now. You will do it quietly. And you will punish yourself for you insolence. Now get out of my sight."

As he watched Dobby walk from the room Lucius Malfoy put his arm around his wife. His mind was easing, perhaps things would actually be alright.

Kingsley tried to walk past the wizards guarding Maddy's door, but the burly guards drew their wands and directed them at his face. "No visitors for the muggle," their gruff voices called out in unison. Kingsley ignored them, as usual, and kept walking toward the door. The combined stunning hex that hit him in the back knocked the large wizard to the floor. "No visitors," the guards laughed as they dragged Kingsley up to Barty Crouch's office.

Madelyn could hear the commotion outside of her room, which now was certainly more a cell than anything else. She could hear that Kingsley was there, but his voice had gone silent and she was certain he would not be coming. The night had been difficult and painful. After the wizards discovered her in the cells below talking to the werewolf they had become convinced that she was in fact a plant, a spy either for the wolves or some larger, more sinister figure.

All evening she had been interrogated by the angry man with the mustache, he never could be bothered to tell her his name but his questions of her had been biting and personal. He accused her of orchestrating the attack on her village, of destroying her sister's mind to get rid of the evidence, and of all manner of dark and sinister deeds. Her denials, which sometimes came laced with tears but more often with spit and anger only made him push her harder. Twice she had nearly passed out from the pain in her chest; with the stress combining with the lack of any of the soothing potions she was now being denied. Then his questions turned to the subject of Archie McGinnis.

To Madelyn Mr. McGinnis was only two things, the strange and quiet old man who had lived in a small house in her village as long as her sister had been alive and the man who had somehow saved their lives. To the man with the mustache though Archie McGinnis was a traitor, a murderer, and someone whose very existence should be rooted out from the face of the earth. To the man apparently the very fact that McGinnis had been living in Maddy's village was enough to condemn the entire lot. "He is just an old man to me, he was always nice," she said.

"Nice? Nice?" the mustached man had seemed to mock the very word, Maddy was convinced he did not laugh, but his face tightened into what she assumed could only have been a smile. "McGinnis worked here, for this office for 30 years. He knew the lives and history of half the people of our world. And do you know what this "NICE" man did, girl?" He was spitting from the anger, "this "nice" old man gave it all away to our greatest enemy. The Dark Wizard's minions came in here with giants and dragons, blew through a hundred good witches and wizards and your friend wasted all their deaths by simply giving in. How many people died because of what he said? Hundreds, maybe thousands. And then the coward ran. You expect me to believe he ever became anything else?"

The man snapped his fingers and two large muscled wizards drug the baffled and confused old man into the room. "He then proceeded to try to avoid his punishment by getting his memory wiped. Well I will have none of that, girl." They threw the trembling man on the floor. "Remember this for when you are giving testimony against the wolves, and they are wolves not men, girl." He raised his wand. "As the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement I pass sentence on Archibald McGinnis. He is a Death Eater and a traitor and has murdered more wizards than we can count. His own actions make him a danger to us all. He deserves no trial." The man pointed his wand at the Archie's chest "Men, lift the restriction."

"The head of the department has been given clearance to use the 1st curse," they had replied in unison.

"Avada Kedavra." A jet of green light had struck McGinnis and he had fallen over dead. The man had been quiet and deliberate as he said the words, then he looked at Maddy. "Remember," he had said to her.

As it all played over and over in her mind she was certain of one thing, she would definitely remember, and so would the mustached man.

Rocherna watched the elf as it shook and shuddered, climbed up the slick wooden ladder and started touching the shutters. She presumed the elf was removing some sort of magical enchantment that would allow the shutters to be removed. If she still was a witch, she would have cursed the little thing to watch it fall and laugh, or perhaps that was only what she would have done after Fenrir. She stared for a moment at the stolen wand that she gripped tightly. She put it aside, she had to move quickly. She had very little time.

The day had been cold and she had forgotten to eat. The only thing that was clear in her mind was Fenrir's pain. She felt it flow through her body, excruciating and awful. He was in trouble, he wanted her to go to him, he needed her. When the humans had come upon them, he had forced her to leave him. She would return though, she would never abandon him. She snuck through the garden until she was directly below the elf and stared up at him.

"Take me to Lucius Malfoy," she sputtered through rain soaked lips.

The elf looked down at her in terror. "Master is not wanting visitors miss," he shivered and nearly lost his grip on the wall.

"Do it anyway elf, I have to see him." Her desperation was total; she could barely speak at all through her fears and pains.

"Master and Mistress is not expecting company, please go away." The elf was down now and physically pushing her back toward the gate. Rocherna picked him off the ground bared her teeth at him and snapped. The elf led her to directly up to the house.

As the slipped into the gigantic entrance hall the elf turned begged her again. "Please go away! Master is not wanting company!" She would not budge and only looked at the creature. The elf simpered and gave up, "I will find master then." He ran off down the hall and only just avoid crashing directly into his master's legs. "Visitor for you , master," Dobby cried out.

Lucius Malfoy had recovered well, he stood in his hall reflecting all of his Malfoy pride and grandeur. He kicked his worthless servant aside and strode to meet the creature fouling his entrance hall. As he passed he called back, "You have disobeyed two orders, elf, you know what to do." Lucius strode deliberately, hoping this unpleasantness would soon be over and his wife and son would know nothing of it.

When he entered the foyer and saw the woman his anger turned to rage. "How dare you enter my house, you filth?" he spat.

"I had to come here, Fenrir has been taken by the ministry and…"

"And this means nothing to me. Leave my house."

"But the Dark Lord and Fenrir…"

Panic flashed across Lucius' face, but he recovered quickly. He leaned in close to the foul, wet beast that pretended to be a woman and whispered. "Do not ever speak those words again." He stood back up to his full height, hair glistening in the glow of the oil lamps and said loudly, "so the ministry once again must test us. Another ministry spy has come to attempt to pin some crime or evil action on me. I never believed that even the ministry would stoop so low as to hire a half breed spy, but apparently they have."

"Please Lucius, you know I'm not, you know me. I need to see him, I need to be with him."

"Even if I were stupid enough to stand against the ministry and try to get this beast freed," Lucius whispered, "I would never do it for a freakish beast like you. Now get out of my house before I become impatient and remove your flea bitten scalp." His wand was resting in his hand and Rocherna had no more recourse. She slipped out onto the grounds without another word.

Narcissa walked into the foyer holding Draco in her arms as Lucius watched the ghastly figure crawl back out through the gates to his estate. "What on earth was all that," Narcissa scowled. "A small bit of filth that is behind us now, dear. Are you and Draco ready for the reception?" Narcissa nodded and they shared a smile before the woman and child disappeared back into another part of the house.

Rocherna stopped outside the gate and threw herself to the ground. Then a voice called out to her, "Get up you wretched fool!" The voice was a woman's cold but deep. Rocherna looked up and saw the flowing black robes, dark curls falling in the woman's face, and deep set eyes that seemed to look right through her. "Bellatrix…"

"Shut up and come with me, now!" the witch commanded. Bellatrix Lestrange stalked off down the road in front of the manor, Rocherna followed.


End file.
